Editor:
Why is the Hope and District Council continuing with zoom meetings that exclude the public when Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs have meetings that are open to the public? Do the mayor and council not want to face the residents of Hope and account for their disregard for the groundswell of support to save the Hope station house?
As our elected decision-makers, they are obligated to listen to the electorate and base their decisions on what that electorate wants. If they ignore the wishes of the people and make decisions according to what they want, we become a dictatorship.
Land use decisions are currently happening—but behind closed doors. There is no need to exclude the public from these decisions because they deal with buildings and renovating buildings on land that the municipality already owns. These decisions about land and its use should be transparent because there is no third party involved and no sale or lease of land, just council and the electorate.
This Council needs to listen to the people. We are tired of being treated like mushrooms.
Arlene Webster